Billy Joel says goodbye to his Madison Square Garden residency, going down as a one-man franchise

There were moments at the final show of Billy Joel’s historic monthly residency at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night when the finality of it all really sunk in.

There was when he sang that it’s “some kind of miracle that I survived” in “This Is the Time”— one of the few surprises, but a song he did in dedication to his wife Alexis — as if maybe he didn’t expect to still be here a decade ago when the residency started on Jan. 27, 2014.

There was when his 8-year-old daughter Della Rose hammed it up to “My Life” while her 6-year-old sister Remy Anne, in a matching striped dress, looked bored underneath her pink headphones — after Daddy’s banner for his 150th career MSG show was raised above the stage following a tribute by Jimmy Fallon.

“Wow, I guess it’s her life now,” said Joel.

And, perhaps most surprisingly, there was when he bellowed “I’m movin out!” in his 1978 hit “Movin’ Out.” Out of nowhere, that consistent crowd favorite hit differently. 

Suddenly it dawned on you that New York’s resident Piano Man was movin’ out of his house — after 10 years, 104 sold-out shows and 1.9 million tickets scanned — bringing more than a little bit of bittersweetness to the usually blissful bop.

But certainly, Joel wasn’t being pushed out because he couldn’t hack it anymore at 75 – all joking aside, he knew darned well that he could still hit the high notes on “An Innocent Man,” even if his ever-loving audience helped him out just in case.

But it all felt familiar, maybe a little too so at times. Although let’s face it, people have come multiple times — and paid big money — to hear the same old hits.

And the same songs — “New York State of Mind,” “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” “Piano Man”— still get the biggest singalongs.

It would’ve been nice to hear Joel at least croon his great new tune “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new single in what feels like 100 years, which was released five months ago

But perhaps the biggest disappointment was the strange special guest Axl Rose, who wailed the Guns n’ Roses classic “Live and Let Die” (well) and the AC/DC one “Highway to Hell” (not so well), then returned for a “You May Be Right” encore with Joel.

Where was Paul McCartney? Where was Elton John? Where was freaking Jon Bon Jovi?

But in the end, Joel doesn’t need any special guests. He’s a one-man show, as he reminded us on numbers such as the aptly titled “The Entertainer” and “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),” which he kicked off with just as he did at the COVID reopening show In November 2021

And for 10 years at MSG, he’s been a one-man franchise.